Closure and resiliently yieldable hinge means therefor



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ELh Bmw y0u Spt. 18, 1956 United States PatettOiiice 2,763,527 Patented sept. 1s, 195e CLOSURE AND RESILIENTLY YIELDABLE HINGE MEANS THEREFOR Irvin E. Berger, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Premier-Hall Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation Application March 29, 1956, Serial No. 574,820

3 Claims. (Cl. S12-325) The present disclosure is concerned with a novel resiliently yieldable hinge structure which functions to mount a door on a cabinet and .afford sufficient yieldability during a door closing operation to relieve the forces tending normally to -resist initial closing movement. The structure includes means to slidably mount one vertical side edge of the door 'on the cabinet front Wall for horizontal reciprocal movement there'along and a hinge leaf or panel that is hingedly connected-along one of its vertical edges to the cabinet front wall and along its opposed vertical edge to a resilien-tly yieldable bracket or spring leaf secured iirmly to the back face of the door inwardly of the point midway between its vertical edges. When the `door is in closed position it lies in a plane parallel to the cabinet iront fwall. When in fully open position the door is perpendicularly inclined thereto `and the hinge leaf likewise is perpendicularly inclined to the cabinet front Wall but in an opposed direction relative to the angle of the door so as to form, 'when viewed in plan, a triangle having as its sides the door, the hinge leaf, `and the cabinet Wall.

In order to start the door into a closed position, pressure is applied `against the outermost free vertical edge area of the door from the front side so as to cause the slidably mounted edge to move in a horizontal direction. Initial movement in a door closing yoperation is resisted by the opposing force of the hinge leaf, which is angularly disposed relative to the pl-ane of the open door, and by .the friction of the slidable mounting. This resistance is overcome in the instant disclosure by providing a resiliently yieldlable connection between the link and the door, which absorbs the initial Ithrust against the hinge leaf while permitting the angle of the door relative to the plane of the cabinet front Wall to be decreased, said door swinging about the axis of its hingedly mounting edge. It is, therefore, `an object of the invention to provide such a slidable hinge mounting )for a door.

- Another object of the invention is to provide a door with =a resiliently yieldable hinge element secured iirmly thereto and connected with a hinge leaf.

Another `novel feature of the present invention resides in the arrangement whereby the resiliently yieldable hinge element is secured to the door `at a point located in- Wardly of the midway point between the opposite vertical door edges, thereby reducing the manual force required to be 'exerted when closing the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cabinet having an 'opening in its `front wall that is closed by a rugged novelly constructed slidable hinge door or doors which is inexpensive to manufacture, is rigidly assembled, is positive in its oper-ation yand simple to operate.

With fthe foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the `description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, `arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter tully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that Ivarious changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating `an understanding of my invention, I have illust-rated in the `accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, my invention, its mode of construction, assembly and operation, `and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding or similar part-s throughout the several igures of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a Afront elevational view of -a bathroom medicine cabinet embodying the present invention, showing portions broken away to illustrate the structure thereof.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cabinet showing both doors in closed posi-tion.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of 4a 'fragment of the cabinet showing one of its doors in yfully open position.

lFig. 4 is a perspective view of the hinge element.

Fig. 5 is a `fragrnenetary detail sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1 `and .showing the slidable mounting.

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawing, the bathroom cabinet selected for purpose of illustration comprises ya substantially rectangular sheet metal body 11, defining an enclosure having a rectangular opening 12 communicating Iwith the interior thereof, through a front Wall y13 comprising substantially rectangular vertically disposed 'side panels 14 and connecting top and.

net front Wall, so as to overlie and conceal the samewhen the doors are in their closed position. Each of the doors preferably includes a mirror 18 and a marginal retaining frame 19.

. Each door .17 preferably has a reinforcing back wall 21, as best illustrated in Fig. 5, which Awall also has its marginal edges embraced within the U-shaped cross section `of the retaining frame 19 and a handle 22 is provided along one vertical edge 23 of each of the doors 17.

The doors `17 4are mounted on the front of the cabinet 11 in such a manner that when one of the handles 22 is enga-ged and pulled outwardly in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the cabinet tro-nt 'w-all 13, the related door lwill move Ifrom the closed position shown in Fig. 2, there is a Ifully open position perpendicularly inclined relative to the plane of the front wall 13, -as shown in Afull lines in lFg. 3. lIlhis manner of opening the door locates the mirror 18 in a position thatpermits it to be used at all times as distinguished. from rthe opening of doors mounted in `a convenient manner which, when moved into open position, conceal the mirror from view.

In order to accomplish the above described movement of the door 117 and to facilitate the initial movement of the door `from its fully opened position toward a closed that the description is eqn-ally Iapplicable to both doors and their mounting.

The door l17 has one of its vertical edges pivotally and `slidably mounted -on the front wall of the cabinet. To this end the vfront faces of the top and bottom strips 15 and 16 4of the cabinet 1,1 are each provided with slideways or tracks comprising slots 24 that extend a distance `corresponding substantially to but less than the width of the door 17.

Referring generally to Fig. 2 and specifically to Fig. 5, it twill be observed that the back face of the door 17 is provided adjacent one vertical edge thereof and close to the top and bottom edges with like bifurcated brackets 25. Each bracket is hingedly connected, by means of a pin 26, to a lug 27 formed as an integral part of a slide bracket 28. The bracket 28 lis mounted within a guide channel defined by the front wall of the cabinet and a backing strip 29, ywith the 'lug portion 27 projecting outwardly through the slot 24. The bracket 28 includes a pair of ears 30 between Awhich is journaled a roller 31 having rolling engagement with the bottom wall of the channel assembly. `Said bracket also has, extending in the `opposite direction, a roller 32 mounted thereon by means of a pin 33. rl`his roller operates zin a channel portion 34 so as to provide, in conjunction 'with the roller 3-1, an anti-friction slidable kmounting for the 'bracket 28 lwhich will absorb all vertical and lateral thrusts vand minimize frictional resistance to free sliding of the bracket 28 longitudinally the length 'of the slot 16. One vertical edge of the door `17 is thus hingedly connected on a rst vertical axis for reciprocal horizontal movement across the cabinet opening i12.

In addition to the above described slidab'le-hinge mounting tor ione vertical edge of the door, said :door is also hingedly connected to the cabinet in a manner best illustrated 4in Fig. 3.y As" shown, this hinge connection includes a substantially rectangular link member 35 of stiff ysheet material yand a spring means preferably in 4the form of a resiliently yieldable bracket 36. The member 35 may be substantially flat. However, `for a .purpose to become apparent presently, it preferably isshaped substantially as illustrated `in Fig. 4, where lit will be observed, it is substantially box-like in its construction, including a panel 37, an end wall 38 arranged perpendicularly to the panel land lan opposite inclined wall 39. The top and bottom margins of -the panel .37 lare bent substantially at right angles thereto in the direction of the end walls 38 sand 39 to provide top and bottom wall portions 41 and 42 respectively. The `free edge of the perpendicular end Wall 38 is suitably rolled, Vas at 43, to provide one element of a piano hinge, which cooperates with a complementary hinge element 44 secured firmly to the yface of the `related end panel y14, adjacent its outermost vertical, edge. In this manner the member 35 is hingedly connected `along one of its vertical edges to the front .wall o-f the cabinet 1\1, to provide a second vertical axis.

The resiliently yieldable bracket 36 'is fabricated from a strip 'of spring `steel and it includes an attaching inargin 45, which is secured firmly in -a suitable manner to the back tace of the reinforcing wall 21 on the .door intermediate between the vertical edges of said door.

As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the attaching -margin 45 of eac-h of the resiliently yieldable brackets 36 is secured to its respective door 17 at a point inwardly of the center of the door 17. T-hat is, the distance between the axis of pin 26 yand the attaching margin 45 is less than the distance between the attaching margin 45 and the handle 22 on edge 23 `of the door 17. As a result, the moment arm between handle 22 and margin 45 is greater than the moment arm between the axis of pin 26 and margin 45. It has been Vfound that this arrangement greatly facilitates the closing of the ydoor 17 in that it reduces considerably the manual lforce required to be exerted on the door edge 23 `for initiating the closing movement of the doors. The major portion 46 of said resiliently yieldable bracket 36 curves `away from the back face of the door and then inwardly and terminates at its free edge in a complemental hinge part that cooperates 'with a corresponding hinge part on the free edge of the inclined end wall 39 of the hinge element l35 to provide a hinge connection, as at `47, joining the member 35 to the res-iliently yieldable bracket 36 on a third vertical axis.

When the door is in the closed position illustrated in Fig. 2, the hinge element 35 lies in a plane parallel to the front surf-ace tot the cabinet iront Wall 13 with the door v17 lying thereover. The top and bottom Walls 41 and v42 of said hinge element function to stiften the panel 37 and to close the gap between the front face of the cabinet and the back face of the door 17. When the Idoor 17 is in the fully opened posit-ion illustrated in full lines in Fig. 3, said door is disposed perpendicularly inclined relative to the cabinet front wall but -in an opposite direction, to the angle tot the hinge element 35, thus forming a triangle having as its sides, the hinge element 35, the door 17 and the cabinet panel 14. In the absence of the yielding elfect of spring means 36, considerable diiculty would be encountered in seeking to move the ydoor trom its fully opened position into a closed position by reason of the frictional resistance ofered by the lslide brackets 28 yand further because lof the resistance offered by the hinge element 35 which :is opposed to the :direction of movement required of the. door while initially moving it into closed position.

In order to start the door moving from its fully open position, as shown in Fig. 3, into a closed position itis necessary to apply force manually against the front face. of the door adjacent its free edge 23. The initial application of force in the general direction of the arrow 48 moves the door from the full line position shown Vin Fig. 3 into substantially the dotted line position there ill-ustrated. Such movement is attained by hinge movement of the door about the first vertical axis 26 while the ,slide bracket 28 frictionally resists initial sliding movement. Rocking movement of the door 17 about the axis of pin 26 from -the full line position of the door into yits dotted line position, without perceptible movement of the hinge element 35, is obtained by reason of the resilient-ly yieldalble bracket 36 which exes from the full vline position shown into t-he dotted line position illustrated. When the door is .in its dotted line position the angle of .the door relative to the plane of the front wall of .the cabinet is reduced lsufficiently to overcome the inherent A.resistance of the slide `elements 28 so as to cause the .door to vmove easily into a full closed position upon continued .application of force at the door edge 23. Following this initial cycle of movement, the energy stored up in the resiliently yieldable bracket 36 is released to assist the door in its closing movement and restore the bracket to its initial position.

In order to open the door 17, the handle 22 on 'the free vertical edge thereof is engaged and Vpulled outwardly substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the cabinet iront wall, thus carrying the door 17 and the hinge element 35 into `the -fully open .positions illustrated.

Itis believed that my invention, its mode of Vconstruction and assembly, Vand many of .its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without kfurther description, and 'it should also be manifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been ishown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable of `wide variation within lthe purview of my invention as defined in the ,appended claims.

What I claim and desire `to secure by Letters P-atentof the United States is:

l. `In a cabinet including an enclosure having an :opening lying in a vertical plane, a vertically disposed door, a link member, means pivotally yconnecting one end :of

the link member to the enclosure, and means slidably mounting an edge portion of said door to said enclosure for horizontal reciprocal movement of said door edge portion in a plane parallel to the plane of said opening, said slidable mounting means frictionally resisting initial sliding movement when the door is in an open position, said mounting means including means pivotally connecting said door edge portion to said enclosure for relative pivotal movement of said door about a vertical axis, said door and said link member extending outwardly from the enclosure when the door is in an open position, the improvement comprising resilient means yieldably connecting the other end of said link member to said door, said other end of the link member and said door being otherwise unconnected and freely movable with respect to each other except for the connection by and effect of said resilient means, whereby an inward closing thrust exerted on the door when the latter is in its open position will cause said resilient means to yield due to the frictional resistance of said slidable mounting means so as to allow the door to pivot inwardly about said vertical axis before said door edge portion commences sliding movement to- Ward a closed position and whereby said resilient means will store the initial energy of said inward closing thrust and then subsequently impart said energy to aid in moving the door toward said closed position after said edge portion commences said sliding movement.

2. A cabinet as recited in claim 1 wherein said resilient means comprises a resiliently yieldable bracket member, said door having a mirror on the front face thereof, said bracket member having one end thereof secured to the rear face of said door, and means pivotally connecting the other end of said bracket member to said other end of said link member.

3. A cabinet comprising an enclosure having an opening lying in a vertical plane, a vertically disposed door, a link member, means pivotally connecting one end of the link member to the enclosure, means slid-ably mounting an edge portion of said door to said enclosure for horizontal reciprocal movement of said door edge portion in a plane parallel to the plane of said opening, said slidable mounting means frictionally resisting initial sliding movement when the door is in an open position, said mounting means including means pivotally connecting said door edge portion to said enclosure for relative pivotal movement of said door about a vertical axis, said door and said link member extending outwardly from the enclosure when the door is in an open position, and resilient means yieldably connecting the other end of said link member to said door and responsive to an inward closing thrust exerted on the door, when the latter is in its open position, for allowing the door to pivot inwardly about said vertical axis through a predetermined angular displacement due to the frictional resistance of said slidable mounting means before said door edge portion commences sliding movement toward its closed position and for storing the initial energy of said inward closing thrust and for subsequently imparting said energy to aid in moving the door toward said closed position after said edge portion commences said sliding movement, said resilient means being connected to said door at a point thereon closer to said vertical axis than to the edge portion of said door opposite said irst-recited edge portion.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 120,580 Fowzer Nov. 7, 1871 393,934 Talbott Dec. 4, 1888 580,426 Rux Apr. 13, 1897 746,758 Stiggleman Dec. 15, 1903 1,776,464 Blackman Sept. 23, 1930 1,920,898 Soule Aug. 1, 1933 2,150,321 Ferris Mar. 14, 1939 2,602,969 Wieland u July 15, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 30,846 France June 15, 1926 559,661 Germany Sept. 23, 1932 621,616 Germany Nov. 11, 1935 

